Standard reference resource now available as a fully searchable electronic database
Virtually every resident of the U.S., and many foreigners, are familiar with some parts of the government of the United States – the White House, the Supreme Court, the Senate and the House of Representatives. But the U.S. government includes hundreds of components, many with highly specific and often unique functions. Just a few examples are the the Bureau of the Public Debt, the Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the Railroad Retirement Board.
Traditionally, the standard basic source of information about the U.S. government has been the United States Government Manual, a paperback volume published annually by the National Archives and Records Administration. For each department, agency, office or organization that it covers, the Manual features a profile, a listing of senior executives, and frequently, the mailing address, main phone number, and website.
Students, attorneys and the public usually encounter the Manual in print, though the Government Printing Office’s Federal Digital System (FDSys) now offers PDF versions of the current year’s edition and the annual volumes going back to 1995. But for something that is not meant to be read cover-to-cover, for something that is essentially a bank of information that just happens to be in the form of a book, is the book or a PDF copy of a book the best way to access the content?
Precisely because of this, the U.S. Government Manual is now also available as a fully seachable online database, located at www.usgovernmentmanual.gov. Now users can search the entire Manual, browse through the structure of the U.S. government, or access the profile of a particular department or agency directly through a handsome and easy-to-use interface.